Prior art includes: D1 Hoover U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,502; D2 Trunneil U.S. Pat. No. 8,132,537; D3 Selstad U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,064; D4 Hediermann DE202012005527U1; D5 Hoover U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,852; D6 Cameron U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,017; D7 Bryant U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,609; and D8 Lipscomb US20100077961A1. Prior art devices are variously for housing, husbandry, or play of rodents, pets, and pigs. A common issue is creating a first animal area primarily for litter or bedding and a second animal area free of litter or bedding.
Vivariums house a number of animals, typically test animals, such as mice, in a number of cages, often a large number. The test animals are frequently used test drugs, genetics, animal strains, husbandry practices, methods of treatment, procedures, diagnostics, and the like. We refer to all such uses of a vivarium as a study.
Animal cages house a range of equipment, such as a water dispenser, a food bowl, exercise equipment, other husbandry elements, a scale, cameras, sensors, and animal identification devices.
Animal cages also contain litter on the floor of the cage to absorb urine and feces. Often, the litter is also used by the animal for nesting. Animals typically move the litter all over the cage, both intentionally and non-intentionally as a result of animal activity. Animal litter is sometimes called animal bedding, or animal bedding litter.
This animal litter often interferes with the proper operation of the equipment in the cage. In particular, litter can interfere with operation of a scale. Thus, it is often desirable to keep litter away from some equipment by restricting the movement of litter in the cage.
Prior art D2, D3, D6, D7 and D8 describe a closed device that is an animal cage, rather than a open device for use in an animal cage. Prior art D2 describes a two-compartment cage suitable for an animal that will train to use a specific area for urination and defecation, such as cats and dogs, but not rodents. D1, D4, D5, and D8 describe animal climbing structures, lacking litter containment baffles. Prior art devices do not isolate a cage into three distinct regions with respect to litter confinement. Prior art devices do not provide a structure designed for easy animal passage that also restricts movement of litter, comprising more than one baffle. Prior art devices do not define fixed regions in a cage with respect to holding equipment in a fixed location substantially free of litter. Prior art devices are not monolithic or sterilizable.
The problem to solve addressed by this invention is keeping litter in an animal cage away from equipment in the cage, with consideration and a solution for cage animal moving litter within a cage, and with constraints of operating effectively in a vivarium.